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The War to Remember

15 min readNov 10, 2025

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Remembrance Day in Canada is no longer a solemn covenant of national memory, but a public performance of institutional cowardice. The true assault on the legacy of our veterans does not come from foreign adversaries, although it may pander to its former citizens. No, it comes from within, waged by bureaucratic mandates and political figures determined to sanitize national identity until it is unrecognizable. What we witness is a calculated campaign to systematically dismantle the core symbols of sacrifice — faith, uniform, and the poppy — in a frantic effort to achieve a false and sterile neutrality.

Erasing Remembrance: What the Hell Is Going On, Canada?

Every November, Remembrance Day should be a unifying moment of solemn respect. Instead, it has become an annual exposure of a profound and disturbing identity crisis within Canada, driven by an establishment that seeks to gag, conceal, and erase any reality it cannot manage. We once rightly focused our collective outrage on stolen valor, demanding respect for those who served. Today, the outrage is aimed not at imposters, but at the very institutions actively stripping away the sacred symbols of the sacrifice we are meant to be commemorating. This stripping away is the deliberate, bureaucratic corrosion of the Canadian soul.

The absurdity is immediate. What the hell is going on when a judge or an administrative body in a Canadian courtroom — an institution that literally owes its existence to the rule of law defended by our fallen — tells a prosecutor, a defense attorney, or a deputy sheriff they cannot wear a poppy? This ban, which has erupted in courtrooms from Saskatoon targeting prosecutors to Nova Scotia targeting deputy sheriffs, is repeatedly issued under the guise of mandated preservation of absolute neutrality. The courts argue that the poppy, as a symbol of support, risks compromising the court’s impartiality or opens the floodgates to other political expressions. This twisted logic transforms the sacred symbol of memorial into a liability — a perceived threat of bias — which is not only illogical but actively offensive.

This is the irony of the federal matter, as provincial leaders like Premier Tim Houston are forced to intervene with emergency legislation, while a central, national voice remains conspicuously silent. This is an act of historical negligence and a profound demonstration of a regime so terrified of unscripted truth that it must erase the very symbols that defend its existence. The other irony is that there is no door to open or close, expression is permitted in this nation. Never forget that.

The Humble Origin of the Sacred Symbol

The poppy’s significance as an emblem of remembrance is rooted in the literal landscape of the First World War’s Western Front. The red Papaver rhoeas flower, a humble weed, was able to thrive in the churned-up, lime-rich soil of battlefields like Flanders, Belgium, where little else could grow. The sight of these blood-red blossoms covering the graves and desolate trenches provided a powerful, poignant contrast.

This phenomenon inspired Canadian military doctor Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae to write the poem “In Flanders Fields” in May 1915. Later, the idea to adopt the poppy as a symbol of remembrance and a means of fundraising for veterans was championed by American academic Moina Michael and French humanitarian Anna Guérin. Guérin visited Canada in 1921 and convinced the Great War Veterans Association, the precursor to the Royal Canadian Legion, to officially adopt the symbol. Today, millions of Canadians wear the poppy on their left lapel, closest to the heart, from the last Friday in October until November 11th, not only to remember the fallen but also to support veterans and their families through the Poppy Campaign. It is the ultimate sign of our spirit, sentiment and sovereignty, save the crown.

The Erasing of Consolation and God

The institutional assault on Remembrance begins with the erasure of the spiritual contract. When, in late 2023 and 2024, the Canadian Armed Forces Chaplain General issued and enforced a directive, the explicit goal was to replace public prayer with spiritual reflection in all official, mandatory ceremonies. This policy was rooted in progressive principles of inclusivity and Gender-Based Analysis Plus, arguing that faith-specific prayers might cause discomfort or signal non-neutrality to personnel who are agnostic or atheist. This mandate, executed from Ottawa’s military command structures, effectively banned chaplains from invoking a deity by name, reading scripture, or wearing visible symbols like stoles during these public events, demanding instead a vague, secularized humanism that deliberately strips the proceedings of their historical religious context.

The erasure proceeds through the transformation of the military chaplain from a spiritual leader into a diversity facilitator, voiding the solemn contract held with the dead. This spiritual core was the last solace carried by soldiers who faced the incomprehensible horrors of the World Wars; their faith, often administered by chaplains on the brink of battle, was the anchor against the ultimate terror. By demanding that chaplains adopt language mindful of the Gender-Based Analysis principles, the institution is not achieving inclusivity; it is betraying the profound emotional reality of service. This public omission on Parliament Hill and at national memorials suggests that the nation is ashamed of the historical and spiritual fortitude that defined its greatest generation of warriors. And they forget God, an He alone, gave us our Dominion over this land.

The consequence is a crisis of identity, declaring the religious convictions that motivated countless soldiers to be politically incorrect. The preamble to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms explicitly references the Supremacy of God, a foundational principle our courts still nominally uphold. Yet, the Canadian Armed Forces directive acts as a veto on this very foundation, removing the bedrock of spiritual certainty for the sake of bureaucratic comfort. This is not about supporting troops of all faiths; it is about establishing secular soulless humanism as the state-sanctioned religion of the Canadian military, leaving the veterans’ sacrifice dangling in a historical and spiritual vacuum where conviction is deemed a liability.

The Popping Popish Ironic Disdain

The second institutional attack focuses on the sacred symbol of the poppy, with the most perverse manifestation being its ban in courtrooms. The controversy flared when, around Remembrance Day in recent years, judges and chief justices in provinces like Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan issued directives restricting or prohibiting court staff, lawyers, and prosecutors from wearing the emblem. The judicial reasoning behind this is the vacuous legal logic of ensuring an unbiased and neutral space, citing the Canadian Judicial Council’s ethical principles. This directive, enforced in the halls of justice, treats the poppy as a symbol of support that could potentially prejudice the court’s appearance of neutrality, particularly if a litigant or accused person happens to be a veteran.

This decision represents a profound legal and moral failure. To argue that a symbol of non-partisan national debt — a debt paid in blood for the very freedom of the independent judiciary — is a political statement is an intellectual absurdity that undermines the Charter’s guarantee of freedom of expression. The ban is achieved through a subtle bureaucratic sleight-of-hand: by equating the sacred remembrance with the profane partisan causes, that carry no Charter protective status, the court can dismiss it under the guise of maintaining impartiality, revealing a profound misunderstanding of the symbol’s unifying power. The court protects no one by limiting this expression; it is pure, basic breach of freedom of expression, a failure of Section 1 of the Charter.

And here lies the ultimate, grotesque irony that exposes the moral vacuum of the current regime: Canada is suddenly hating the simple, sacred symbol of the poppy while the same progressive forces champion harm reduction programs. Consider the raw symbolism: the poppy flower Papaver somniferum is the source of opium, and the pin used to affix the Remembrance symbol to the lapel is itself a needle that penetrates the fabric. They champion taxpayer-funded programs providing safe supply and clean needles to penetrate the flesh in an effort to manage the urban crisis, yet they cannot tolerate the simple, sacred symbol of Remembrance. This institutional hypocrisy prioritizes the management of current social dysfunction over a foundational act of national honour, exposing a staggering moral disconnect.

The Hypocrisy of Headline Control

This entire cultural moment is defined by a deep-seated insecurity within the political establishment. Canada is afraid of Canada. Its leaders hate their people. Its institutions are far away from their constitutions. They are blind to their blatant responsibilities to their kin. They are so fearful of breaking away from their meticulously scripted narrative that they appear weak, focusing entirely on feelings and optics — their biggest fear and their biggest focus.

The core irony is that this establishment loves a headline, provided it confirms their internal worldview. Yet, when Don Cherry made headlines for his passionate, blunt, plea for remembrance, the reaction was immediate and destructive. Cherry was not seeking forgiveness; he offered to elaborate. He was fired because the establishment wanted control of the narrative, not truth. He had become the villain of the woke mind virus, and his honest, unscripted emotion could not be tolerated.

This calculated dynamic is best exemplified by the elite figures who choose strategic silence. What can we say about a leader who will not publicly and authentically discuss his own lived experience, remaining silent on the national stage regarding his late father’s controversial tenure as a principal at an Indian Day School, and choosing self-preservation over defending the very real, lived experience of his transgender son? His calculated silence is the ultimate performance of a political class so terrified of unscripted truth that they impose it on the entire nation. The machine controls who gets to be polarizing and who gets silenced.

The Silence of the Uniform

The institutional assault reaches its climax with the administrative cloaking of the military uniform, turning the hero into a functionary who must be made invisible outside of strictly scheduled duties. The uniform is not mere clothing; it is the physical manifestation of the oath, the deed, and the nation’s trust. However, the Canadian Armed Forces Dress Instructions impose strict regulation on its public display. When service members, particularly Reserve Force members, are not on duty or proceeding to and fro, their right to wear the uniform is heavily restricted or effectively rendered invisible by cultural caution and administrative guidance. This restriction fundamentally attacks the visibility essential for maintaining a strong civic connection to the military.

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The institutional drive to eliminate the military from the civic space extends to the very places where young Canadians encounter it, yes, our schools. The very place where the integrity of our best should be showcased to the next generation is instead barred. This erasure is an administrative ban, often enforced by local school boards and provincial education ministries, which restricts or prohibits cadets, reservists, and veterans from wearing their uniforms while present on high school grounds for Remembrance ceremonies or mentorship programs. The ban is rooted in a false ideology of fearing uneasiness and avoiding political symbols in educational settings that might insult, incite, or create squeamish stomachs. Ironically, if these schools propped up images of our Liberal party members, no one would call this political, it would be simply Canadian, despite its sole substance being entirely politically grounded. They would be nobodies were it not for their people’s vote. Yet the undeniable symbol of pride is somehow deemed too political by the hypocritical mouth pieces. This institutional block breaks the link between the serving generation and the next, proud Canadians versus self-loathing, removing a crucial role model for discipline, duty, and national service, thereby ensuring the military remains a sequestered entity, disconnected from the national future. Thus, as it falls, it falls not in the foreground, no it mustn’t be a focus, ever. Instead it falls in silence, withering away with the almighty Wind, like ash.

The ultimate display of this official shame occurred when, following the 2014 Parliament Hill attack, military members in some regions were ordered to avoid wearing their uniforms in public off-duty for anti-terrorism security reasons. While this was framed as a protective measure, it delivered a catastrophic symbolic message: the identity of the Canadian soldier is a liability in the public square. This act of forced concealment, mandated from within the very institutions designed to protect them, is the final policy of deliberate invisibility, ensuring the hero remains a hidden functionary rather than a proud public citizen.

The Veneration Gap

The national humiliation expressed by ordering Canadian soldiers to hide their uniforms after the 2014 attack delivered a catastrophic, institutional message: the identity of the soldier is a liability in the public square. This act of state-mandated concealment immediately created a chilling Veneration Gap that separates Canada from its closest allies in times of remembrance and crisis. This gap is not about military budget or size; it is a moral chasm defined by the willingness of a nation’s governing bodies to stand proudly by its protectors, or to shrink away from the political consequences of pride. This difference in national posture exposes a deep, systemic failure when contrasted with the conduct of our foundational partners, France and England.

The contrast with these allies — specifically France and England, the two nations most intimately involved in Canada’s founding and two who have had defining wars against each other — is profoundly illuminating. These are modern, secular, and aggressively progressive societies that have, nonetheless, maintained a non-negotiable, visible covenant with their war dead. Despite decades of complex, at times warring, history, they ensure their living military and veterans sit shoulder to shoulder in public parades and ceremonies. Their institutional pride transcends temporary political correctness, recognizing that national honour is a prerequisite for national sovereignty.

In London and Paris, the institutional default is honour; military service is showcased, not sequestered. When Remembrance ceremonies are held at national sites like the Cenotaph, the full, formal presence of the armed forces is a central feature, reinforcing the bond between the state and its protectors. This open policy of pride ensures the citizen is immersed in the reality of the sacrifice. This commitment was starkly tested by the brutal murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich, where the British state and public responded not with calls to hide their military, but by doubling down on visible pride and institutional support, ensuring the soldier’s honour was reinforced, not erased. This is the crucial difference: Canada’s institutional shame and sanitization, showing no such consequence in affirming national identity during a crisis, versus the allied resolve to stand proudly with their military.

The New Dark Age

This regime is actively ruining the Canada that is Canada, not the hollow, rootless concept they promote. This is not evolution; it is a calculated attempt to construct a new nation rooted in globalist deceit and authoritarian socialism, where the foundational myths of the past must be erased to make way for the new script. Yes, a new Canada is emerging, but it is not their planned, post-national creation; it is a synthesis — old and new — that exists despite them.

This ideological tyranny comes with a staggering financial price. The spending under this administration has outpaced the cumulative debt of our entire history, creating a fiscal burden that will define a dark age of debt for generations. This colossal spending is driven by the necessity of funding their parallel reality, leaving an indelible mark on the future of the nation, which we will be forced to clean up.

This era of self-inflicted amnesia and authoritarian delusion is temporary. Their Canada — the one built on fantastical dreams — is running on borrowed time and borrowed money, and its will be over once their tyranny ends. We must remember their blunder clearly so we are never lured back into such a destructive experiment again, and so may be known will be their failures. We will forget them, but their bill will persist unfortunately.

The Soldier’s Spirit Versus the Soy Boy

The new leadership’s policies directly assault the military’s pride. In the name of post-nationalism, they engage in absurd, virtue-signaling gestures — handing out tampons to male soldiers instead of investing in artillery, and allowing our national symbols to be desecrated while demanding Canadians conceal their own national garb. Burn the flag, but don’t you dare get caught suited up in the most illustrious dress our nation has. Don’t. This is not reform; it is a deliberate, cynical degradation of the military’s militant spirit and a systematic attack on the very concept of national honour. Of course, foreign mercenaries can join our forces to fast track their journey to citizenship too.

But the true Canadian spirit cannot be governed by ministerial decree nor can misguided not-yet patriot be expected to fight with a fire red within. This soul of Canada was shown, it burst into the open on October 22, 2014. After Corporal Nathan Cirillo was murdered at the War Memorial, the attack moved to the symbolic heart of the nation. What followed was a moment of pure, authentic Canadian resolve — a moment the current establishment would rather forget because it was unscripted, violent, and utterly non-negotiable.

The man who met the threat was Kevin Vickers, the 58-year-old Sergeant-at-Arms, a former RCMP officer armed with his service pistol. His act was not bureaucratic; it was the ultimate, life-or-death decision of a warrior. He met the killer head-on and dropped him where he stood, proving that no amount of political cynicism can erase the instinct for pride and protection that remains embedded in the Canadian soul. He protected the same House that now wages war on its protectors. It shames them. It pretends it is them. But when push comes to shove, a World War era revolver saved our Chambers, not their perceived weaponized pens. They scream and shout, but no oral sentiment can drown out the echoes of ammunition discharged.

Delusional Defense

The political vacuum is filled by leaders so far removed from genuine conflict that they are practically delirious. These soy boys couldn’t sense war even if a declaration was served directly into their hands. They are functionally useless in any scenario requiring immediate, decisive action, resembling Stalin in his post-invasion stupor — retreating into self-analysis and hallucinating threats while real danger mounts. We buy oil off Russia, and, spew contempt of America. Not exactly smart with the two supreme militias and nations on earth. And, laughably, our two neighbours.

The ultimate expression of this delusion is the defense manifesto that names climate change as the number one sovereign threat, worthy of national defense focus. This is not the policy of a serious nation. The focus is not on defense; it is a redirection of resources, where military budgets are hollowed out to instead fund politically favored climate green new scams. Positioning this environmental concern above geopolitical threats, conventional warfare, and foreign aggression betrays a fundamental lack of understanding of national security and the nature of the modern world.

This prioritization exposes them as sneaky, objective liars. They preach national security while the true funding priority remains the ideological spending on climate initiatives, leaving the military to fail NATO’s defense spending guidelines and field an aging, ill-equipped arsenal, even though their spending in the chart satisfies the 5%. They trade the essential security of modern weaponry for the false comfort of ideological pronouncements. The result is a nation without confidence, with a gimp military, brought to this state by leaders who confuse the self-analyzing ego trip with genuine, effective governance.

The Victory of Amnesia

This regime of institutional cowardice succeeded where no foreign enemy could: it has engineered a nation to be ashamed of the very symbols that define its sacrifice. They actively dismantled the foundational pillars of Canadian service: they removed God and spiritual faith from the soldier’s consolation, they restricted the military uniform from the public square, and they banned the sacred poppy from the halls of justice. This systematic erasure — driven by the fear of being deemed politically incorrect — is the ultimate betrayal of our veterans’ legacy.

The most profound failure of the elite class is not their ideological mistake, but their political cowardice in refusing the role of unifiers. A figure with the political and social license of a Mark Carney possesses the power to use unifying language — even a fraught phrase like you people — and his status would ensure it lands as a call for Canadian identity, not division. He could wear the poppy profoundly and speak of our nation as a land of milk and honey in his tea, and the country would follow his lead. People would listen. Fair play. His decision to stay silent, however, forces us to remember Don Cherry’s honest, silenced words every time we see an unadorned lapel in downtown Toronto, confirming the establishment prioritizes self-preservation and narrative control over authentic national healing.

Canada, as they define it, doesn’t exist, and if they keep this up, it never will. We are Canada not these nobodies showing contempt for their past and projecting it onto us. The victim era is over; it’s time to go back to being heroes and warriors and to finally end this new phenomenon of losers writing the history books. It doesn’t work. Doing nothing means writing nothing; it means having nothing to say. So instead of writing, they erase, and thus they can’t remember a thing. All they can recall is the self-inflicted amnesia they have imposed. The beauty is if there’s nothing written, there’s nothing to remember, and for that reason we may be able to get over their tenure with ease. A hiccup. It’s time to stop letting them control what you hear and what you say, and to stop letting them make us FORGET.

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Joseph Frascà ♱ 🍁🟣
Joseph Frascà ♱ 🍁🟣

Written by Joseph Frascà ♱ 🍁🟣

Real people at street level. Don't hate the player hate the game.